PRECIOUS-Gold steady after French election, N. Korea worries support

Reuters Staff

4 Min Read

April 25 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Tuesday after a
sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French
presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered
support for safe-haven bullion.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was unchanged at $1,275 per ounce by 0115
GMT. Bullion prices fell about 0.7 percent in the previous
session after touching $1,265.90, the lowest since April 11.
* U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at
$1,276.60 an ounce.
* Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the
French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting
and qualifying for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader
Marine Le Pen.
* The news represented a defeat for anti-European Union
forces on the right and left of French politics, sent European
shares and the euro vaulting higher and sparked a sell-off in
safe-haven bullion.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.N.
Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on
North Korea as concerns mount that it may test a sixth nuclear
bomb as early as Tuesday.
* The launch of the London Metal Exchange's new precious
metals contracts will be delayed until July 10, more than a
month later than previously announced, it said on Monday.
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.17 percent to 860.17
tonnes on Monday.
* Russia and Kazakhstan raised gold holdings in March, the
International Monetary Fund said.
* UBS cuts three-month target for gold prices to $1,200 per
ounce from previous estimate at $1,300.
* Barrick Gold reported weaker-than-expected
quarterly earnings on Monday and also slashed its forecast for
output and hiked costs at its gold mine in Argentina, where
cyanide solution spilled recently for the third time in 18
months.
* Newmont Mining Corp reported higher-than-expected
adjusted earnings on Monday helped by higher production and gold
prices as the gold miner also raised its longer-term forecast
for output and lowered costs due to expansions at a Ghanaian
mine.
* Polyus Gold , Russia's largest gold producer,
reported a 19 percent rise in first-quarter sales to $600
million on Monday due to higher production.
* Randgold Resources Ltd confirmed multiple
opportunities for extending life of Tongon gold mine beyond
current four-year horizon.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0645 France Business climate April
1300 U.S. Monthly home price index February
1300 U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller housing index February
1400 U.S. Consumer confidence April
1400 U.S. New home sales March
1400 U.S. Richmond Fed composite index April
(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard
Pullin)